Government funding announced to trial new road freight technologies
Aeroflow’s ‘shape-shifting’ HGV trailer
Connected Places Catapult, the government-funded innovation centre, has announced ten companies that are set to receive a share of more than £950,000 to trial freight innovations, with a further ten to benefit from fully-funded venture growth support.
The Freight Innovation Fund is designed to accelerate the adoption of commercial solutions to address challenges across the freight and logistics sector, from shape-shifting trailers to automatic damage detection.
The Department for Transport-funded scheme is supporting an Accelerator programme, which sees ten firms teamed up with industry partners to conduct trials of their solution in an operational environment – while the Venture Growth programme gives a further ten companies funded support from experts at the Catapult to help them strengthen their proposition and scale.
Companies benefiting from the Accelerator funding responded to a callout identifying three key areas for solutions to address – renewable energy supply, autonomy in freight and logistics, and supply chain resilience – in addition to an ‘open challenge’ category.
They include Aeroflow, creator of an aerodynamic HGV trailer (pictured) that ‘shape-shifts’ to improve fuel efficiency, with the aims of cutting costs, increasing range and lowering emissions. When there is less cargo on board, the trailer’s side walls move inwards to create a tapered shape, reducing drag. Aeroflow will partner with fleet operators eGXO and Welch Group to assess the trailer’s performance on a test track and in real-world fleet operations, measuring fuel and emissions savings across various routes, speeds and loading conditions. The project will also assess the trailer’s reliability, ease of use and compatibility with day-to-day logistics. The findings will then guide development of a production-ready trailer.
Autonomous vehicle technology will also receive funding. Aurrigo’s battery-electric autonomous Auto-Shuttle vehicles will be deployed at Portsmouth International Port to transport people, baggage and freight, using a common autonomous driving system and sensor technology. The trials will aim to demonstrate safe and reliable operation in a live environment, and to provide transferable learning for future freight operations.
Ten companies receiving support from the Freight Innovation Fund Accelerator programme will be trialling their technologies with logistics partners
Other innovations on the Accelerator programme will include the BuildPrompt AI platform from Biobright Ltd, also set to be trialled by GXO. The system, which can read and understand information in any format and connect it to identify risks, patterns and insights, will be used to aid transport safety and provide teams with evidence to act before incidents occur.
Along with Sameday Transport, GXO will also trial Clearquote Technologies’ AI-powered HGV and trailer inspection solution, which automates damage and defect detection for heavy commercial fleets – with the potential to reduce unreported issues, improve vehicle check quality and consistency, and ultimately boost safety. The trials will include mobile-app walkaround capture and automated fixed-camera capture at a GXO depot.
Meanwhile, partner TwentyForty will trial MHTech Energies’ Smart Depot Share system at a working freight depot. The system is designed to increase the amount of electric vehicle charging time an operator can offer to visiting fleets, by calculating how much energy the depot’s own trucks will need a day in advance.
Also partnering with TwentyForty is Moonbility, whose Disruption Impact Platform predicts how disruptions such as roadworks, incidents or delays impact road freight and multimodal networks. The platform calculates the downstream effect of disruptions and offers ranked interventions, scored by time saved and cost avoided. In applying the platform to live freight operations, the trial will aim to demonstrate faster response times and produce a documented framework for coordinating across independent fleet operators that could be replicated sector-wide.
Welch Group, TwentyForty and GXO will trial a harmonised chargepoint booking service from Paua Tech, which aims to improve charging certainty and accelerate electrification. The trial will focus on booking interoperability and reservation workflows, while also considering driver experience, fleet manager needs, authentication and cancellation rules.
Welch Group will additionally trial a platform from TOGL Energy which brings together vehicle and charger data, electricity tariffs, site power limits and departure times to plan charging around operational requirements. It is designed to reduce charging costs, make better use of existing grid connections and ensure vehicles are ready for their next shift.
Full details of the trials to be funded by the Accelerator programme, along with details of the Venture Growth programme beneficiaries, can be found at the Connected Places Catapult website.
The logistics minister Keir Mather said: “The freight and logistics industry is crucial to keeping Britain moving, so it’s important that it’s supported and well-equipped to meet modern-day demands.
“This year’s extended funding and growth programme means even more companies will be able to invest in new technology and innovative solutions that will not only make a big difference to the sector but contribute to the growth of our economy too.”
Sameer Savani, transport and infrastructure managing director at Connected Places Catapult, added: “Freight and logistics are vital to the UK economy. By working to support the development and adoption of new technologies in these sectors, we can tackle key challenges, attract private capital, and secure long-term economic growth.
“With the backing of DfT, buy-in from our industry partners, and the commercial know-how of my colleagues at the Catapult, we are well positioned to accelerate the route to market for these high-potential firms. Congratulations to all selected.”
